Zytek

Formula One drivers aren't born, they're made. Sure, a select few enter life with otherworldly reflexes, a sixth sense for speed and the financial backing needed to make it to the top. But there's a whole mess of steps they need to take before they can get there. And for many – take Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica as a couple of examples – one of those steps is the World Series by Renault. Now, after a long period of development, series organizers have released the new Formula Ren

UK transmission engineering and control specialist Vocis will show off its electric vehicle-specific, two-speed transmission during the Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2011 at Rockingham Motor Speedway over in the UK.

You may think of Morgan as a stodgy old automaker. And in many ways its is, still making as it does some of its cars on a wooden frame and recently going back to its roots with a delicious trike that looks like it came straight out a WW2 air field. But Morgan is also the company that makes the AeroMax and EvaGT. And now it's taking one step further into the future (or present) of the automotive industry with a new electric prototype.

You may think of Morgan as a stodgy old automaker. And in many ways its is, still making some of its cars on a wooden frame and recently going back to its roots with a delicious trike that looks like it came straight off a WW2 air field. But Morgan is also the company that makes the AeroMax and EvaGT. And now the company is taking a step into the future (or present) of the automotive industry with a new electric prototype.

The prototype electric version of the Mercedes Vito Taxi that was unveiled in early February is now ready for on-road tests. The companies behind the plug-in taxi – Zytek, Valence Technology, Penso and Mercedes-Benz UK – put the van together in six months (starting with the Benz donor vehicle) and have created a vehicle that can go around 120 kilometers (75 miles) on a six-hour charge with seating for six. Those are decent numbers for a personal electric vehicle (EV), but not ideal f

Zytek Automotive has worked on electric drivetrains for the Smart ED and the Mercedes F1 KERS system. This week, Zytek announced a partnership with Gordon Murray Design for a new all-electric city car called the T.27. Gordon Murray is the force behind the T.25, the tiny three-seater that was designed to use a 660cc turbocharged engine. The T.27 is basically a plug-in version of the efficient T.25.

It turns out that when the time came for the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team to develop a hybrid drive KERS for this year's car, it did not do the job in-house. Instead, it went to a specialist with perhaps more experience than anyone in developing such systems, Zytek. The UK engineering firm developed the hybrid powertrain for the first modern race car of the type, the Panoz Q9, a decade ago.

After months of delays, Corsa Motorsports is finally ready to hit the track with its new hybrid LMP1 race car. The hybrid race program was originally announced last summer at the Detroit Grand Prix and was set to debut at the Petit Le Mans in October. Unfortunately, development didn't proceed as quickly as hoped with the fall and winter passing by as the car was made ready for competition.

Just over a month ago at the Detroit Grand Prix weekend, Corsa Motorsports announced its intention compete in the ALMS LMP1 class with a hybrid-powered race car built in England by Zytek. The new car was supposed to debut this weekend at the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta. Unfortunately, earlier this week, the Utah-based team decided that the hybrid system wasn't quite ready for primetime. According to a release on the team's website, they are confident in the safety of the system, but the r

Here at the Detroit Grand Prix today, Corsa Motorsports announced their intention to debut a hybrid powered sports car in the LMP1 class at the Petit Le Mans in October. Corsa will be using a chassis developed by Zytek with an E10/electric hybrid powertrain. The 10-hour race at Road Atlanta on October 4 will also mark the debut of the Green Challenge were the teams will be judged on their fuel consumption and overall environmental impact. Corsa hopes to make a good showing as part of the Green C

Xtrac, the company that brought us the transmission for the JCB Dieselmax land speed record, will be showing off a new hybrid powertrain transmission at the Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC in the U.K. The show runs today and tomorrow.

Having built engines for almost every class of racing up to and including Formula One, Zytek is company long familiar to racing fans. They have also done development work on road vehicles for various manufacturers. Lithium Technology Corporation is a manufacturer of lithium-ion battery systems. The two companies have now teamed up to build an experimental diesel hybrid based on a Smart ForFour (which is no longer in production).

And now for a little look inside the recently announced the SMART EV. DaimlerChrysler's tiny SMART EV will be powered by an electric drivetrain developed by British company Zytek. The drivetrain uses rare-earth magnet technology, a DC motor, and regenerative braking system for a claimed range of 72 miles. The maximum speed of the SMART EV will be electronically limited to 70 mph. Zytek claims the SMART EV "provides all the safety features and dynamic ability of the standard smart fortwo, but wit